Blondemail
by Ms. Videl Son
Summary: ThreeShot. When Erasa discovers Gohan's secret identity as Saiyaman, she has a few...conditions. Pre-Blackmail, GhVi, NO GhE.
1. Blondie

**Title:** Blondemail  
**Disclaimer:** I'm not even taking credit for the stupid title pun.  
**Rating:** PG-13 ( T ) – For mildly naughty language and a hefty dose of antagonism.  
**Spoilers:** Erasa isn't a natural blonde! _Le gasp_!

**Summary:** ThreeShot. When Erasa discovers Gohan's secret identity as Saiyaman, she has a few...conditions. Pre-Blackmail, GhVi, NO GhE.

Sherlock Holmes she ain't.

For all your trouble, ShadowMajin, this one's dedicated to you.

* * *

**Part One:** Blondie

"It's _so_ obvious that you like him, Videl-chan. Why don't you just ask him out?" Erasa queried, smearing on a liberal amount of strawberry-flavored lip gloss during her pause. In the mirror, she could see Videl's reflection scowling at her against an unoccupied bathroom stall. "He'd totally say yes."

"Not interested," was Videl's short, irritated response. Harsh and to the point, that was her best friend.

Screwing the cap back onto her gloss, Erasa rubbed her lips together to spread the sticky-sweet cosmetic properly. With a loud smack, she pulled them apart and admired her handiwork. Perfect. "If you're not interested, then why do you keep staring at him in class?"

In the mirror, Videl shifted her eyes so that contact couldn't be established between their gazes. She was hiding something. "He's hiding something."

"Like what?" Erasa felt compelled to ask as she reached up and began teasing her fingers through her hair. Were her roots showing _already_?

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you..."

With a sigh, Erasa allowed her layers to fall back into place, vowing to make an appointment at the beauty salon after school. "Try me," she insisted.

"Seriously," said Videl, staring straight into the mirror again for a bit of indirect eye contact. "You wouldn't believe me."

Turning around to finally face her friend for real, Erasa planted one fist on her hip and used her free hand to wag a finger in Videl's direction. She fixed a half-serious frown onto her face before saying, "You're not allowed to keep things from your best friend, you know!"

Videl, who always seemed to know when Erasa was faking exasperation and when she was serious about it, smirked in return. "I guess I have no choice but to tell Sharpener, then."

Feeling a real twinge of annoyance, Erasa snipped, "That's, like, not even funny, Videl-chan."

At this comment, Videl laughed aloud. "I disagree! I thought it was _very_ funny."

Erasa relaxed and allowed a smile to creep onto her face. It wasn't often anyone – even herself – got to see Satan Videl, the stoic and duty-bound daughter of the World Champion, let go and revel in amusement. Thus, if Videl ever found something funny, Erasa wouldn't be the one to begrudge her that.

In fact, Videl's serious demeanor was part of the reason why she thought it would be a good idea for the teenaged champion of justice to take Son Gohan as a boyfriend. Once – just once, mind you – he had made her laugh, and that was enough to convince Erasa that he could do it again.

Why Videl found it funny that some red-headed girl had given Gohan a teddy bear was beyond her, though. Sure, it was weird, but was it _funny_, exactly? Maybe it was the expression on his face that had done it...

Well, whatever. It had worked for her and that was great.

"So, what is it you think Gohan-kun is hiding, anyway?" Erasa asked as soon as Videl's laughter had died down (sadly, it didn't take long).

"Well...," Videl began, apparently still apprehensive about revealing her theory. After a couple of lagging seconds, she admitted, "I think he's Saiyaman."

Okay, _that_ Erasa found funny. Cupping a hand over her mouth to withhold her snorts, she managed to say through the gap in her fingers, "S-Seriously? _Gohan-_kun as Saiyaman?"

The frown was back on Videl's face in an instant. The flush in her cheeks was a new addition. "Yeah, so?"

Once Erasa caught her breath, she continued; "It...It's just..._Gohan-_kun? He's, like, way too wimpy! There's no way!"

"Okay, so how do you explain how he _always_ has to go to the bathroom right after I leave class to fight crime?" Videl asked, standing erect to perch both fisted hands on her hips. Her glare was stern, but Erasa recognized it as her I-can-convince-you-of-anything face. "Sharpener told me that the teachers have stopped letting him go because he always takes forever to come back."

"Well, maybe he's under hypnosis," Erasa suggested. That sounded logical to her.

Apparently not to Videl, though. With one eyebrow (which badly needed plucking, in Erasa's opinion) raised almost to her hairline, the pigtailed girl replied, "...What?"

"He could be under hypnosis," the blonde repeated, slowly. "Once, on TV, I saw this guy who could hypnotize people into doing anything he wanted them to every time someone whistled or clapped or something! It was, like, super freaky! Someone could have done the same thing to Gohan-kun so that every time you run off to fight crime he has to go to the bathroom!" she explained, enthusiastic about her mystery-solving skills. "Poor guy...," she added, shaking her head in sympathy.

The deadpan expression on Videl's face indicated that she was skeptical of this theory. "Yeah, that _has _to be it...," she said, eyes roving upwards in an exasperated arc.

Annoyed again, Erasa frowned in Videl's direction. "Hey, it's no stranger than Gohan-kun being Saiyaman."

"I beg to differ."

"Okay, fine, then," Erasa conceded, folding her arms beneath her small bosom. She kind of hoped that Videl wouldn't do the same, even if there were no boys around to compare their busts in the girl's bathroom. "Is there anything else that proves Gohan-kun is Saiyaman?"

"You mean aside from that day in gym class?" Videl asked, lips quirking in a know-it-all smirk. Erasa hated that smirk; it always meant that Videl was going to make her sound stupid. "Well, there's always that thing about Gohan dressing like the Gold Fighter."

With the introduction of the Gold Fighter into their conversation, Erasa became confused. "Huh? I thought you said Gohan-kun was Saiyaman."

"I think they're the same person," Videl explained, leaning back against the bathroom stall she was planted in front of. To Erasa's disgruntlement, Videl folded her arms. "I mean, how many guys could there possibly be out there with superpowers? Even if they are tricks, I kind of doubt that they're common knowledge._ I _sure don't know how to fly."

"Well, maybe – "

Before Erasa could finish her next thought, the door to the ladies room swung open and a fluffy red head poked itself through the opening. Funnily enough, it was the girl who had given Gohan the teddy bear. "Like, hey, the teacher says we're about to leave," she informed them.

"Coming," Videl replied for the both of them, lowering her hands back down to her sides again and taking a step towards the door. She caught it as the red-headed girl disappeared around the other side of it, clasping it within her palm to hold it open for Erasa. "Okay, let's go."

— — —

After reemerging into the museum lobby, Erasa and Videl did their best to fuse with the amorphous blob that was the senior class of Orange Star High. Right at the center of the mob, the teacher was calling roll to the best of her ability over the chattering heads of her pupils, but Erasa couldn't hear a thing.

"Hey, did she just call my name?" the blonde queried of her pigtailed friend, reaching up on her tiptoes to try and see over the star quarterback's broad shoulders. No such luck.

Videl, whose head was even further below the surface level of the tide of students in their way, scowled at the back of the jock's letterman jacket. "How the hell should I know?"

"Um..." came a tentative voice from behind them. Turning, Erasa smiled at a familiar, sheepish face. "They just called Sharpener-san."

"Oh, poo...," Erasa lamented aloud. "That means they've already called me..."

"Yeah, me, too," said Videl, narrowing her glare in Gohan's direction. Erasa was slightly depressed to find her crossing her arms again (while she was out making her hair appointment, she'd have to buy herself a bra with a bit more padding, too).

Gohan, it appeared, had a few male hormones after all. Erasa couldn't help but laugh at how big his eyes got when Videl shifted a little on her feet and jiggled. Somehow, she doubted it was healthy for a person to turn that red, though.

Genius that he was, he looked away quickly. Good thing, too; Videl would eat him alive if she caught him staring at her goods. Sharpener never seemed to learn that (not even the hard way).

Turning down the intensity of her glare a notch, Videl returned her focus to Erasa. "I'm gonna go tell the teacher that we're here," she pronounced, disentangling her arms from one another to better navigate the crowd in her way.

"Hey, Binder! Go long!"

The gargantuan jock in front of Videl took up the challenge and, while deftly catching the inflatable pigskin ball between his hands, knocked the vertically-challenged teenager behind him off-balance. "YEAH! Who's the man, eh?" he shouted in victory as Videl began plummeting to the marble floor.

"Videl-chan!" Erasa cried, reaching out to soften her friend's blow.

Before the exclamation was even fully out of her mouth, however, Gohan was in her way, the felled Videl collapsed safely in his arms. Oh, how _romantic_!

"Are you okay, Videl-san?" was his first question, eyes softened in sincere concern.

Erasa, knowing how sensitive Videl was about her height and the problems associated with it, fully anticipated the reaction that the pigtailed-girl rounded on Gohan. "I'm fine!" she snapped, her tone a little more harsh than usual standards.

Taking each of Gohan's helpful hands into one of her own, she pried them away from her waistline and righted herself, simultaneously removing herself as far from his person as possible in the crowded circumstances. An obviously baffled Gohan didn't try to contain her, only stared at Videl as he allowed his expression to lapse into something unreadable.

The teenaged Satan girl was a little unsteady on her feet at first, but regained her balance completely just before reaching the buffoon that had knocked her over. "_Get outta my way_!" she demanded, making a vengeful jab at his side with her clenched fist. The unfortunate boy crumpled to the ground like a folded lawn chair.

The rest of the crowd, of course, parted to let Videl through. Self-preservation was a powerful drive, it seemed.

Had Erasa been given full vantage of Videl's face, she would have been able to testify to whether or not her friend had been blushing. The blonde assumed that her face had been positively overwhelmed with pink flush – what with how flustered her reaction to Gohan had been – but without status as an eyewitness, Videl would just nix the theory as pure speculation. With no hard evidence to tease Videl with, Erasa was left behind to pout.

"Okay, now we have everyone," the teacher announced a hardly significant amount of time later, mere moments after Videl had rejoined Erasa and Gohan in the back of the crowd. "Let's go!"

With no further bidding, the students began meandering their way to the glass front doors of the museum lobby in one large formation, chattering and gossiping amongst themselves along the way. Some of them were moaning and complaining about having to go back to school before the start of last period, – "Wasn't a boring-ass trip to this stupid place enough education for one day? Man!" – but a day without having to attend the majority of their classes put most of them in a relatively good mood.

"So, what do we have when we get back?" Erasa asked, pivoting her head to direct the question at Videl.

Without bidding, Gohan answered for her; "Algebra."

"Thanks, but I think she was talking to _me_," Videl said, turning to Gohan – who was flanking her other side – to fix him with an irritated glare. If Erasa wasn't mistaken, her eyes were a little colder than usual, possibly a symptom of what had transpired inside. Videl was a prideful girl and Gohan, sweet and helpful by nature, couldn't seem to fathom that she was entirely uninterested in being treated like a damsel in distress (her loss, in Erasa's opinion; she'd let a hunk like Gohan save _her_ any day).

The boy immediately blushed pink and lowered his eyes. "Sorry..."

Lightly slapping Videl on the upper arm, Erasa chided, "Don't be so mean, Videl-chan! It's not a big deal, or anything." If the blonde girl wasn't careful, she'd let her friend scare away the only potential boyfriend material she had.

"Hmph...," was Videl's only thought before she crossed her arms again. Gohan stiffened and looked away, a few patches of pink still clearly visible just below the surface of his skin. It made Erasa smile to think that, despite all of Videl's efforts to the contrary, Gohan was still as interested as ever. Either the boy was a masochist or...well, that's about as far as Erasa had fathomed (some guys liked a...strong woman, or so she'd been led to believe).

Both Videl and Erasa jumped as Gohan was suddenly thrust out of their field of vision, his position usurped by Sharpener, of all annoyances. "Hey, beautiful," he greeted, draping an arm around Videl's neck. His eyes didn't stray for a second from what the pigtailed girl so poorly tried to hide beneath her baggy shirts. "Miss me?"

Probably gripping Sharpener's wrist a little tighter than necessary, Videl removed his arm from her person and shoved him away from her. "Not even in the slightest."

Finally, Gohan reemerged on Sharpener's other side, rubbing the back of his neck and looking more disgruntled than Erasa had ever seen him (granted, she'd never seen him entertain such an emotion before). He even smirked a little as the blonde jock rubbed the soreness out of the appendage Videl had grasped him by.

Ooh..._jealousy_, maybe?

They were released from the museum into the blinding sunlight of a warm spring afternoon, shielding their eyes from the intrusive rays of the sun. "Augh!" Erasa complained, squeezing her lids tight over her blue cornea. A grunt from her left seemed to suggest that Videl shared her sentiments exactly.

Soon their sight returned to them, however, and they were able to follow the ambling group of teenagers around the building and down the street in search of their school-provided transportation (ie, the bus). The sunspots resulting from their intense glimpse of sunlight danced before their eyes, creating large blind spots in their vision.

Such blind spots, perhaps, prevented them from recognizing the danger nearby.

_BOOM_!

The resulting tremors that followed the explosion threw some of the teenagers off balance and several fell gracelessly into the street. Cars swerved as both students and debris came flying at them from all directions and they began to pile up in the road in twisted groupings of metal and plastic. After a short pause in which the bystanders collected their bearings, the screaming began.

"Ohmigod! That building just _blew up_!"

"It exploded! Did you see it?"

"Holy shit! I'm getting the hell outta here!"

Erasa could feel Videl's arms wrapped around her, implying that she had been shielded from some of the destruction from her best friend's body. When a roughly male-sounding voice introduced itself into her thoughts, however, Erasa opened her eyes to investigate.

"Are the two of you okay?"

"G-Gohan-kun...?" she replied, blinking in bewilderment at the spiky-haired boy suspended over their bodies by both arms. From the corner of her eye, Erasa could see that Videl, too, was staring at their savior. She couldn't quite make out the pigtailed-girl's expression, but she could imagine it.

Videl's body shifted away from her as she planted a hand in the center of Gohan's chest, pushing him backwards and away from them with a mighty shove. "We're _fine_," she replied for the both of them, her tone tight and upset.

What did it take for this girl to _lighten up_, anyway? Was it really so embarrassing to be saved every once in awhile?

Gohan, understandably, looked hurt by Videl's ungrateful response. Unlike before, he did a poor job of masking how much pain her rejection had caused him, his face crumbling in despair for a few agonizing seconds. Undoubtedly, he had been hoping for at least a bit of praise from his pigtailed crush.

"Erasa-chan, can you move?" Videl asked, completely ignoring Gohan's puppy dog appeal for a sincere thank you.

Erasa's eyes remained trained on Gohan, heart clenching in sympathy for him, as she replied, "Yeah, I think so..."

"There was an alley a little ways back. I want you to take cover in it with Gohan-kun while I go investigate, okay?" she requested, clearly only for the sake of politeness. When Videl issued such instructions, they were meant to be followed.

Videl then disentangled herself from Erasa and leapt to her feet, finding her balance quickly as she squinted into the flaming mess that had been made of their locale, probably searching for wherever she intended to go next. Without even pausing at Gohan's exclamation of "Hey! Wait!" she took off running into the street, climbing on and over the cars in her path to get to the primary scene of the accident.

With a bit of chivalrous help from Gohan, Erasa, too, was lifted back onto her feet. She felt herself limping slightly, but the pain centrally located in her ankle wasn't terrible. Probably a sprain, at worst. "Thanks...," she said to him, offering the spikey-haired boy a thankful smile.

Erasa got the feeling that he hadn't even seen it, though. With his head turned in the direction Videl had dashed off in, he hardly seemed to even remember she was there. "Yeah...," he replied after a long pause, his face drawn in an anxious frown.

Erasa's smile widened a little as she remembered how she once thought she'd had a chance at going out with Gohan herself. Obviously, he was interested in a different type of girl altogether. "She'll be okay," she reassured him, finally drawing his attention back to herself. He shifted his eyes, and eyes only, to fix on her face as she continued; "She's done stuff like this a million times."

Gohan's gaze moved away again, this time to stare at the ground. He appeared to be thinking hard about something – Videl, Erasa assumed – and, as he did so, his eyebrows drew together.

"Stay here," he finally said to her, removing the arm looped around her waist as he took a step in the direction Videl had gone. When he turned, Erasa noticed that almost the entire back of his shirt had been burned away, exposing an expanse of smooth and undamaged skin beneath. The material was darkened around the jagged, frayed edges, the fibers charred black by the dying flames clinging to them.

Weird...

As he tensed his body in preparation to run for it, Erasa decided to ponder the conundrum at a later time. If he was really intending to go after Videl, she had to stop him. "Wait!" she cried, rushing forward to cling to his arm with both hands. "Where are you going?"

Seemingly startled, Gohan blinked at her a couple times before replying, "I'm...uh...going for help."

"Yeah, right," Erasa retorted, doing her best to tug him in the right direction. Gohan didn't even budge a centimeter. "You're going after Videl-chan, aren't you?" It was well known around school that Gohan was something of a wimp and, if he were somehow stupid enough to try and play hero, Erasa feared that it would be the last thing he ever did. Sure, Videl was a hard girl to impress, but was she really worth slow and painful death?

Looking even more flustered than he had in the face of Videl's bouncing bosom, the spikey-haired boy stammered, "Wh-Why would I do that? I'm just going to call for the police, honest!"

"But Videl-chan told us to go hide!" she countered, leaning backwards to put all her weight into dragging Gohan where she wanted him. When he remained firmly planted in the same spot, Erasa was forced to relax her muscles before she pulled anything. Were his shoes melted to the sidewalk, or something?

Once again relieving himself of her grip (effortlessly, too), he reassured her, "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Take cover and I'll be right back."

"But, Gohan-kun – "

Just as Videl had, Gohan turned away from her and ran off into the chaos, deftly leaping on and over the obstacles in his way. The huge hole in his shirt was smoking as he overcame a large SUV and finally disappeared from her sight on the other side of it.

"Great...," Erasa bemoaned, slapping a palm to her forehead in exasperated defeat. "Now what?"

Glancing around, Erasa realized that, in the absence of Gohan, she had been left completely alone. All of her classmates and teachers had obviously fled after the explosion, intelligently deciding that the area was no longer safe for dawdling and gossip.

Wonderful. Absolutely perfect.

"Nng..."

Erasa jumped as someone – possibly some_thing_ – grabbed hold of her injured ankle. With a panicked squeal usually only heard in B horror movies, Erasa kicked out violently with her other leg, striking whomever – or _what_ever – it was in the skull with the heel of her foot. She was released with a strangled cry of pain.

After first backing away a good ten feet, the blonde girl lifted her eyelids slowly and took a cautious look in the direction from whence she had come, steadying her nerves in case it was something big and slimy that she had to run from.

It was Sharpener. Not as bad as she'd thought.

Heaving a weary sigh, Erasa rolled her eyes to the clouds above and fixed them with an expression that would have been more at home on Videl's face. "Just great..."

— — —

"Gods...lay off the weight training," Erasa commanded of Sharpener's unconscious body as she pulled it into the alley Videl had instructed her to take cover in.

Sharpener, listless and dazed, made no comment.

The blond jock's limp appendages scraped against the pavement as Erasa dragged him across it, stopping and starting all over again every time her minimal strength gave out on her. Fatigued as she was, her muscles were becoming even more useless than usual and hauling this fame-horny idiot around wasn't helping at all. Her ankle was beginning to hurt like hell, too.

Dropping Sharpener unceremoniously to the ground with a loud thump behind a sturdy-looking dumpster, Erasa descended to the ground in a similar fashion, panting from the exertion. "You...totally...owe me," she told him between pants, lolling her head to the side so that she could look at him properly.

Yet again, the blond jock declined to respond.

Now that they were safely hidden, Erasa took the opportunity to look her swooned classmate over for any obvious injuries. Nothing too horrible, really; a scratch here or there on his back and shoulders, a bruise or two on his face and, of course, the bloody lump on his forehead from where she'd kicked him. "You're just lucky I decided to wear flats today, Sharpener-kun," she said, laughing a little to herself.

Of course, fortunate as he was to be almost in one piece after suffering the backlash of an explosion, Erasa just knew that Sharpener wouldn't see it that way when he finally regained consciousness. For a guy who put more effort into his appearance than she did, losing almost all of the golden-blond hair he so lovingly brushed at least twenty times a day was sure to be traumatic.

Though she obviously hadn't witnessed the event first hand (what with being pinned under both Gohan _and_ Videl at the time), Erasa assumed that a spark or two from the explosion had gotten into some of the longer strands of Sharpener's flaxen locks and slowly eaten away at them until finally dying out on their own. Half – and only half – of Sharpener's head had been singed by the flames, leaving one side practically bald while the other looked about as it ever had. He looked so pitifully unbalanced that Erasa couldn't help but laugh at his expense now that she knew he was (medically) okay.

On the bright side, long hair was out for the season and short was back in. After a quick trip to the salon, Sharpener would be even more in style than he had been before. Except for the bald patches, of course (maybe he could start a comb-over fad).

"Man...she just doesn't let up."

Caught up as she had been in Sharpener's unfortunate loss, Erasa started when an unexpected voice intruded upon her inner musings. She turned her head to check the back of the alley first, but didn't spot anyone. Having eliminated that section of her hiding place as the source of the voice, Erasa bent down to prop herself up on her hands and knees and began crawling forward.

Steadying herself against the side of the dumpster with both hands, she leaned around its cornered edge to get a peek at what was going on near the mouth of the alley. Her eyes widened in surprise when she spotted Saiyaman lowering himself down to the ground only a few yards away from her, cape fluttering around his body as he descended.

Just as his feet touched the ground, he spoke, revealing himself as the one who had called her attention previously. Strangely, Erasa felt that his voice sounded familiar. "I'm only trying to_ help_ her and she acts like I'm some sort of criminal! Geeze..."

Erasa cupped a hand over her mouth to contain the giggle that had escaped her lips. '_I'll bet he's talking about Videl-chan_,' she thought, eyes watering with the effort of trying not to laugh aloud. '_I guess she's not just mean to Gohan-kun._'

"I just don't get her," Saiyaman complained, lifting his left arm as if to check the watch wrapped around his wrist. Bringing his other hand up to meet it about chest-level, he pinched the face between two fingers and a loud metallic beep could be heard throughout the immediate vicinity. Only a few seconds later, his costume had dissolved, leaving _Gohan_ standing in his place! "What does a guy have to do to make her trust him, anyway?"

"N-No way...," Erasa stammered, falling flat on her backside as the revelation presented to her sunk in. "G-Gohan-kun is _Saiyaman_?"

To say that Erasa was shocked would have been the understatement of the last few centuries. She would have been less surprised if, say, Sharpener (who was still uselessly asleep behind her) had turned out to be the masked savior of the city, despite his selfish disregard for anyone but himself. At least _he_ worked out and was trained as a fighter (by _the_ Mr. Satan himself, even). But Gohan...well, that was just weird and unlikely.

Then again...with the way Videl explained it, Gohan as Saiyaman _did_ kinda make sense. Not a lot, but kinda. He _did_ follow Videl out of class a lot and there _were_ strange incidences that hinted at him having above average abilities, but did either of these things truly make him Saiyaman material?

Apparently, they did. The proof was close by, still talking to himself and lamenting Videl's disdain for him. "What did I ever do to her that was so terrible, anyway? If it's about that copter thing..."

Should she let him know that she was there? Reveal to him that he was outed? Oh, gods, what should she tell Videl about all of this? Best friends told all, just as she'd said only an hour ago...

Peering around the dumpster again, Erasa took another look at Gohan. He was rubbing the back of his neck – a nervous little habit he acted upon a lot, particularly when Videl was around – and sighing mournfully. "Maybe she just..._hates_ me, or something."

The expression on his face that followed this revelation was so heart-crushing that Erasa was forced to rub the itch of tears out of her eyes. Gods, boys were so _pitiful_ when they were in love.

Sorely tempted to remain in hiding until Gohan revealed all of his deepest, darkest secrets to her (or, at the very least, get some solid and irrefutable confirmation that he was, in fact, deeply and tortuously in love with her best friend), Erasa finally climbed to her feet and stepped out into the open.

The singed hole in the back of his shirt was in full view to her as she revealed herself. As this meant that Gohan was facing the opposite direction, Erasa was forced to speak to get his attention. "Hey, Gohan-kun."

Straightening up as if someone had shoved a hard rod into his spinal column, Gohan spun around and fixed her with the most petrified expression Erasa had seen on his face to date. "E-Erasa-san! W-What are you doing here?"

"Videl-chan told me to hide here, remember?" she replied, smiling at him. He gulped in return.

"Uh...H-How long have you been there?" he asked, his eyes flickering down to the wrist that sported his watch. The watch that turned him into Saiyaman.

Her smile widened a little. Man, making him squirm really _was_ kinda fun, she had to admit. A small, mean little voice in the back of her head couldn't blame Videl for wanting to inspire this kind of fear in him once in awhile (what a power trip!). "Long enough. I guess Videl-chan was right about you having a secret, huh?"

In complete contrast to the rosy pallor that he'd been sporting of late in Videl's presence, Gohan's face drained of all color, leaving his skin a pale and sickly hue. Possibly too stunned to speak (or maybe he was about to throw up, Erasa couldn't tell), he stared at his blonde classmate with his jaw clenched and didn't respond.

"So you're Saiyaman, huh?" Erasa continued, taking a step closer to Gohan and allowing her grin to widen until it split her entire face. Now that she was getting used to the idea, she was beginning to enjoy it. To think that she knew a real-life superhero personally! To top it off, she was the only one who (definitively) knew his secret identity! "That's so _cool_, Gohan-kun! And here I thought that Videl-chan was crazy when she said – "

Seeming to come back into full consciousness, Gohan finally aid something, his eyes wide in something akin to fear. "V-Videl-san knows, too?"

"Well, no, not exactly," Erasa replied, watching as the spikey-haired boy's shoulders slumped in relief. "She suspects you, though. I thought she was crazy until just now."

Gohan's body stiffened again at this revelation, but didn't resume his panic. "She doesn't have any evidence, does she?"

"I don't think so, just theories," said Erasa with a shrug of her shoulders. Tipping her head to the side as a different thought occurred to her, she asked, "Hey, are you the Gold Fighter, too?"

"N-_No_!" was Gohan's immediate answer. His hands were waving back and forth in a wild fashion and his voice was louder than necessary. "That one's definitely not me! No way!"

A little frightened by his response, Erasa held her own hands up in front of her in an attempt to placate the panicking boy. "Okay, okay! Geeze...I believe you, Gohan-kun." She really didn't, though. No one was _that_ stupid.

Again, Gohan calmed himself a little, though he was obviously still on edge. His hands dropped to his sides, pulling his shoulders down with them until he looked utterly dejected. "You're...you're not going to tell Videl-san about this, are you?"

Okay, so maybe Erasa couldn't be mean to Gohan after all. Not if he was going to pull out the puppy dog expression every time.

Just as she was opening her mouth to reassure him of her silence, pangs of guilt and sympathy warring in the pit of her stomach, she was interrupted by a new voice introducing itself into the conversation; "Tell me _what_, exactly?"

— — —

**Author's Notes: **See, RyRy? Rara wouldn't divulge my secrets **n.n** Not that she knew what you wanted in the first place (well, she didn't know when she "revealed my secret," anyway). Best part: we got _two_ pictures out of you for absolutely worthless information. Consider yourself bamboozled, sucker.

For the rest of you, please read and review. The next chapter will be posted...soon-ish. I hope to have this story finished by September, but there are really no guarantees considering both the length of the chapters and all the stuff that tends to sidetrack me. Wish me luck, y'all!

_Next Chapter..._Spikes

Un-beta'd. Self-edited.

_**. ( . Ms Videl Son . ) .**_

– _Who's your daddy? GohanVidel_


	2. Spikes

**Title:** Blondemail  
**Disclaimer:** I'm not even taking credit for the stupid title pun.  
**Rating:** PG-13 ( T ) – For mildly naughty language and a hefty dose of antagonism.  
**Spoilers:** Erasa isn't a natural blonde! _Le gasp_!

**Summary:** ThreeShot. When Erasa discovers Gohan's secret identity as Saiyaman, she has a few...conditions. Pre-Blackmail, GhVi, NO GhE.

And now, the plot thickens...

For all your trouble, ShadowMajin, this one's dedicated to you. And many thanks to Tenchuu17 for pestering me _endlessly_ about this fic.

PS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KISAKUN!

* * *

**Part Two: **Spikes

"Tell me _what_, exactly?"

Leaning around a suddenly catatonic Gohan, Erasa squinted at the figure silhouetted in the mouth of the alleyway, her eyes slowly adjusting to the intense light pouring in from the street. After a few tense seconds, the person came into clearer focus and recognition dawned for the teenaged blonde. "Videl-chan?"

Stepping deeper into the cool shade of the alley, Videl revealed herself fully to her stunned audience, hands fisted on her hips and face set into a no-nonsense expression. "_What_ aren't you supposed to tell me, Erasa-chan?" she demanded with absolutely no preamble.

Uh oh, busted.

"N-Nothing, Videl-san!" Gohan insisted as he slowly forced his taut body to turn and face his doom – er, Videl. His forthcoming innocent expression was strained and dubious. "Why would Erasa-san keep something from you?"

"She _wouldn't_," Videl replied, lifting one corner of her lips in a smirk as she folded her arms around her torso. Gohan's face instantly took some color as she did so, but didn't dare look away from the confident, curious face that was staring him down (or _up_). After holding their gazes for a few more moments, Videl shifted her eyes to focus on Erasa before saying, "_Would_ you, Erasa-chan? Best friends tell all, right?"

"R-Right...," the blonde replied uneasily. She'd never experienced one of Videl's I've-got-you-cornered looks firsthand before. "Gohan-kun was just saying...um, confessing, really...how much he...erm...admires your...bravery. In the face of danger, and all that."

Videl's expression was understandably suspicious. With a raised eyebrow, she replied, "Really." It wasn't meant as a question, merely an incredulous statement.

"R-Really," Gohan seconded, nodding so vigorously that his normally stiff hair flopped back and forth. When he stopped, he looked a little light-headed. "I don't know how you do it..."

"Oh, I think you have a general idea," she said – accused, more like – turning to Erasa next. The interrogation continued with, "Cut the crap, Erasa. What's really going on here?"

While she fidgeted uneasily with her bracelets, Erasa discovered a lot more sympathy for Gohan and his lame excuses. It was hard to think of a decent explanation for odd behavior on the spot! "O-Okay...I'll tell you."

Videl nodded approvingly, a smirk inching across her face. She clearly suspected what Erasa was hiding and could barely hide her triumph. "Go on..."

"Gohan-kun...," the blonde began, pausing to glance at her spikey-headed friend. He was starting to turn an ugly shade of green and seemed likely to pass out at any time. The boy looked absolutely pathetic.

"Gohan-kun...," Videl repeated, urging Erasa with her tone to continue.

"Gohan-kun...," the girl began again, gulping hard as she weighed her options. Should she reveal Gohan's secret? Should she try to hide it? _Could_ she hide it? "Um..."

Videl's patience was clearly wearing thin. Erasa hadn't seen that posture and expression since her last half-birthday when she'd forced her friend into a chick flick marathon featuring all of the _Legally Blonde_ movies. (Videl had flatly refused to watch all six seasons of _Sex and the City _for anything less than her actual birthday, though.)"Just spit it out already! Sheesh..."

Finally coming to a decision (and a story she hoped was plausible), Erasa steadied her nerves for what she was about to say. "You caught us. I was just interrogating Gohan-kun about his feelings for you and then...y'know...you kinda walked in on us."

Erasa glanced at her subject to see if he was relieved or horrified. A mixture of both, it looked like. (Really, that shade of green _couldn't_ be healthy.)

Videl's feelings about the conversation were much more clear. She was skeptical. "Is that so?"

"Y-Yeah. He was just begging me not to tell you that he's got a thing for you when – "

"Erasa-san!" Gohan interjected, thrusting himself between the two girls as if to physically block the conversation. Erasa was pleased to see that a little color had returned to his cheeks since she'd last hazarded a glance in his direction. "Wh-What are you _saying_?"

Erasa leaned around Gohan to fix Videl with a look that said "See? I told you so" before addressing the panicked boy. "You don't need to hide it any longer. It's okay to tell Videl-chan how you feel about her."

"B-B-But I never said – "

Erasa shushed him quickly before he could say anything to ruin her brilliant cover story. "There's no point in denying it anymore. Your _secret is out_," she told him emphatically, communicating more strongly with her eyes than her words. "And I know all about it. As Videl-chan's best friend, I'm, like, totally honor-bound to tell her."

Gohan seemed to have finally grasped the subtext that Erasa was trying to convey and kept his mouth shut. He nodded once to acknowledge the favor she was doing for him and said no more.

"He's madly in love with you," Erasa claimed wildly, turning back to Videl. She felt practically feverish as she spun her tale, injecting all of her matchmaking hopes and wishes into the plot. "He told me so just now. He can't sleep, he can't eat – well, not as much as usual, anyway – and he can't stop thinking about you! It's kinda sad, really."

Videl's reaction wasn't exactly what Erasa had been hoping for. There was no blush, no stammering, no elated expression, nothing. Was this girl carved out of ice?

Unperturbed, Erasa plowed on with her brilliant deception. The devil is always in the details, after all. "He, like, _seriously_ worships you, Videl-chan. He's got posters of you on his walls – "

"E-Erasa-san!"

" – and this awesome shrine of you in his closet – "

"NO! Videl-san, she's not – "

" – and he even has your picture in his shower. I think so that he can spank the – "

"Stop, stop, _STOP_!" Gohan cried, lunging forward to clasp his palm over Erasa's persistently flapping lips. Far from being green, his face was now flaming red; the color started somewhere beyond his hairline and disappeared under his shirt, ceasing somewhere out of sight (possibly at the tips of his toes).

Erasa glared up at him over his fingers and complained, "Waph arr yew doingph?"

While Erasa extricated herself from Gohan's loose grip, Videl finally ventured to reply, "How stupid do you two think I am?"

The quarreling pair paused in their struggling to look at her. Erasa queried, "Huh?"

Videl continued, scoffing, "You don't really expect me to believe this bullshit, do you? I mean, I'm a junior detective for the SCPD – possibly the only detective on staff that actually solves any cases – and I don't overlook much. Do you really think that I wouldn't know it if our friend Gohan here had a crush on me?"

Erasa couldn't help rolling her eyes, even knowing how much it would provoke Videl. "Please, Videl-chan," she said in an incredulous tone. "You'd be the _last_ person to know."

"Right, and Sharpener over there" – Videl nodded to the unconscious lump of muscular flesh behind the dumpster – "won't be the joining the Hair Club for Men tomorrow. I repeat: how stupid do you think I am?"

"I'm telling you the truth!" Erasa insisted, a little miffed at Videl's know-it-all attitude. She'd been putting up with it all afternoon and it was getting seriously old. Nudging Gohan sharply in the ribs, she turned to him and said, "Right?"

"Uh..."

Erasa glared at the waffling boy sharply and repeated, "_Right_?"

Quivering, Gohan finally seconded, "R-Right. I...uh...really l-l-like you, Videl-san."

"Next I suppose you'll tell me that he was here, with you, the entire time I was off helping the fire department? All the while confessing his secret desire for me?" the pigtailed champion said, sneering in contempt at the both of them. Erasa had never seen her so annoyed.

Plenty aggravated herself, the blonde replied boldly, "That's right. He was here the whole time."

Videl's eyes narrowed in Gohan's direction as she muttered, "Convenient."

Nobody said anything for a minute or two – Sharpener grunted in pain a couple of times, breaking up the strained silence – and the discomfort mounted into outright tension. Videl's righteous anger loomed in the alley like a dark cloud of miasma, practically tangible in its intensity.

"Well," she finally ventured, darting her icy gaze between her two adversaries in cold reproach. "We'd better get back to the others. Everyone went back to the museum and I'm sure they're looking for us. Let's go."

Without further ado, or even a glance backwards at either of them, Videl marched off in the opposite direction and out of sight around the corner. Either she didn't expect them to follow or she simply didn't care because she didn't bother waiting for the pair to catch up.

Erasa turned her own glare on Gohan and declared, "You totally owe me. _Big _time."

**000 000 000**

The next morning, Erasa loitered in the hallway waiting for Gohan to show his goofy face. She checked her watch every couple of seconds, keeping a careful vigil on the time, and tapped her foot impatiently every time she had to put it down without any sign of her secretive compadre. Her "woman troubles" excuse was only going to hold out with the teacher for so long before he came out to investigate.

"Come _on_," she muttered to herself, glancing from one end of the hallway to the other. Had he skipped? He didn't seem the type, frankly. Was he ill? Maybe with a case of scaredshitlessitis. Was he out saving the world with Videl? That seemed both likely and dangerous considering her pigtailed friend's mood lately.

"Oy!"

Erasa started a little when a deep male voice interjected itself upon her thoughts. She inclined her head to her left and fixed her eyes on the source; it was Sharpener. "Uh...hey."

Erasa rather hoped that Videl would take it a little easy on their old pal Sharpener today. Not only was he withdrawn, mopey and clearly depressed at the loss of his hair, but he was also wearing the most hideous skull cap to cover up his recent loss. It was orange and pink with a cute little skeleton on the front and had apparently been in some kind of fire itself; it was singed and blackened around the edges and sported quite a few holes that looked suspiciously like cigarette burns. Quite honestly, it looked like he'd gotten it from his chain-smoking little sister.

"The teacher wants to know when you're coming back to class," the pathetic excuse for a teenage boy informed her, eyes cast down to his shoes. (Which were also pretty ugly, now that she got a look at them. Where was his excuse for _that_ faux pas?)

With the utmost pity in her heart, Erasa replied, "I'm still feeling pretty sick, Sharpener-kun. I...uh...need to stay out here a bit longer. Maybe you should go home, though."

Sharpener shuddered and shook his head to the negative effect. "N-No...they could be waiting for me – uh, I mean...there's nothing on daytime TV."

Erasa shook her head. He'd been paranoid all morning; she'd tried to convince him to go see the school guidance counselor, but he'd refused. Said that the "spies were everywhere," or something and he didn't want them to think he'd talked. Well, whatever...she was sure that his parents would force him to go by the end of the week, anyway.

"Okay...," Erasa began, placating him with a soft smile. She continued, "I'm gonna stand out here for a bit. You go back to class."

"Yeah..."

"Bye, then."

"...See ya."

Whew, that was _close_. Erasa watched the classroom door close again with the utmost relief. She'd been afraid that the teacher would force her to come back inside before Gohan showed up, thus forcing her to wait until after school to accost him. Her plans had to be put into action, like, _now_.

Oh, would he just _hurry up_?

"Why aren't you in class?"

Erasa jumped when addressed by someone behind her. She whipped around and came face-to-face with...Videl. "Videl-chan!" blondie exclaimed, pressing a hand to her palpitating heart. "You've, like, gotta stop sneaking up on people."

Videl frowned and countered, "I wouldn't be so scary if people didn't sneak around."

"I'm not 'sneaking around'! I've got cramps again this month and Mr. Shuuster said I could stand out in the hall until I feel better," Erasa replied, somewhat insulted. She shushed the voice in the back of her mind that scolded her about lying to her friends. "Anyway, what are _you_ doing out here?"

"_I_," began Videl haughtily. "Just got here. There was another bomb threat made on the downtown Capsule Corp building and I had to go help the cops investigate. It turned out to be a hoax, but I figured it was still more important than homeroom."

"Was Saiyaman there?" Erasa queried in what she hoped was an innocently curious tone.

Videl, of course, looked suspicious as she replied, "Yeah, he was. Speaking of, has Gohan-kun been to class yet?"

"Of course! He's just...uh...," Erasa paused as she racked her peroxide-fried brain for a plausible excuse for his present absence. If Videl went inside, discovered that Gohan wasn't in attendance, and started putting two and two together...

"If you say he's 'gone to the bathroom,' I'm going to laugh," Videl said, a wide smile breaking across her face.

Erasa, sorely tempted to giggle herself, held it back and said, "_No_, he's going to see if the school nurse is in today. You know, for my cramps."

"And you couldn't go because...?"

"It hurts to move."

"Right."

Loud pounding footsteps and heavy breathing drew the attention of both girls away from each other and toward the other end of the hallway. Approaching fast, as if called to them by some mysterious force, was Gohan. He was clutching at a stitch in his side as he ran, but didn't slow down until he was right in front of the classroom door. "I'm – "

"Late!" Erasa finished for him, lunging forward to grab hold of his free arm. She looped it around herself and exclaimed, "I'm, like, totally _dying_ here! Are you going to take me to the nurse's office or what?"

Dumbfounded, Gohan replied, "Huh?"

"I've been waiting for you to come back for almost five minutes already," Erasa claimed, pointedly looking at Videl and then back at him. "What kept you?"

Gohan, after sparing a look for Videl himself, seemed to catch on to what she was trying to do. "Oh, uh...traffic?"

Or maybe not.

Erasa did her best to ignore Videl's snorting laughter in the background as she pressed Gohan further. "I meant, _what took you so long at the nurses office_?"

"Oh!" replied Gohan, blushing a little. For a genius, he was a total dunce. Or maybe he just totally sucked at lying. "Uh...foot traffic. The...uh...marching band was...um...marching over...there."

Yep, that was it. Sucky liar. "Whatever," Erasa pushed on while Videl doubled over in amusement behind them. "Take me to the nurse's office now, okay?"

"R-Right..."

"Would you tell the teacher where I've gone, Videl-chan?" Erasa asked, throwing an annoyed look at her friend over her shoulder.

Videl, clearly incapable of speech through her laughter, waved one hand at her in agreement and sauntered into the classroom. Only after the door was closed did the sound of her mirth die down.

"So...are you sick?" Gohan asked once they were alone. He was gazing into her eyes with clear, genuine concern and Erasa couldn't hold back a blush. (Oh, the things she forfeited for friendship!)

"Nope," Erasa replied, releasing herself from his hold. He was cute, but _heavy_! "I just told the teacher that I had 'woman troubles' so that she'd let me out of class to wait for you."

"'Woman troubles'?" he repeated, his head cocked to one side in curiosity.

Erasa squealed at him. "Omigod, you're _so cute _sometimes, you know that?"

"Uh...what?"

"Nevermind, you don't want to know," Erasa continued, dispelling the line of questioning with a wave of her hand. "Listen, we shouldn't stay here for too long. I'm supposed to be at the nurse's office, remember?"

Gohan nodded and began meandering away from their classroom as bidden. "Where do you want to go?"

"Someplace quiet," Erasa said, pondering the possibilities as she fell into step beside him. She cupped her chin within the crook of her thumb and forefinger thoughtfully as she continued, "Someplace...private. I want to talk to you about something. I know a nice little coffee shop pretty close to here."

"I don't think we should leave campus," replied Gohan nervously. "We don't want to be caught by truant officers."

"Yeah, 'cause you're Mr. Perfect Attendance," Erasa teased with a playful roll of the eyes. "Where do you suggest, then? We don't want any eavesdroppers."

"How about the roof?" Gohan suggested. "I've only ever seen one person up there before and she should be in class right now."

"Omigod, was that the time you dropped your pants in front of Angela-chan?"

"What? No!" Gohan blushed at the implication. "I...accidentally transformed in front of her. After that, it kinda...got out of hand."

Erasa giggled at him and looped an arm through one of his as they mounted the staircase. "_Do_ tell."

**000 000 000 **

"That's just not right!" Erasa exclaimed as they emerged out onto the rooftop of Orange Star High, each amused in their own way over Gohan's story. "She just outed your 'secret' like that? In front of Videl-chan?"

"Yep," Gohan replied, smiling a little. He was rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, but didn't seem as embarrassed as before. "After that, Videl-san started warning me once a week to 'keep my underwear to myself'."

"No! Really?"

"Yeah, usually on Mondays," he replied with a chuckle. Setting his school bag down on the rooftop, he asked, "So, what did you need to talk to me about?"

Erasa smiled at him and said, "_Duh_, blackmail, of course."

Gohan looked horrified. "B-Blackmail? For what?"

"For keeping a secret from my best friend," the blonde supplied, crossing her arms over her chest like she'd seen Videl do in every no-nonsense conversation they'd ever had. She could be tough, too. "I told you yesterday that you owed me big time, remember? Well, it's time to pay up."

Gohan blushed a little before saying, "I don't have any money, Erasa-san."

"Pfft! I don't want your money," Erasa countered with exasperation. "Not only is my daddy a millionaire weapon's designer for Capsule Corp, but I'm not that kind of girl. No, I want something else from you."

Gohan seemed almost too afraid to ask. "Wh-What?"

"I want you to date Videl-chan," proclaimed Erasa to an absolutely flabbergasted Gohan.

"I – I can't do that!" he exclaimed loudly, throwing his hands up into the air with dramatic flourish. The expression on his face was so tainted with panic that it was impossible to tell whether the idea excited or frightened him more. "Are you _insane_?"

Erasa puckered her lower lip at him resentfully. "I am totally _not_ insane," she insisted, her fisted hands planted firmly on her hips. "My mother had me tested. And anyway, you don't have much of a choice, do you?"

But Gohan wasn't through. He began pacing on the rooftop as he mounted his defense, his voice rising higher in pitch with every passing syllable. "Even _if_ – and this is a pretty big 'if' here – she agreed to a date, she'd spend the entire thing interrogating me about Saiyaman! Not that she _would_ go out with me because she pretty much hates my guts."

"She doesn't hate you, stop being such a drama hero," Erasa scolded, her baby blue eyes following his progress back and forth. He was starting to make her dizzy. "She's just got a problem with liars, that's all. It's her thing."

Gohan snorted what Erasa thought was a rueful laugh. "That's ironic..."

"What?"

"Nothing," he replied, finally ceasing his rhythmic movement. He pivoted on his heels so that he was facing her as he continued, "Why would you want _me_ to ask Videl-san out, anyway? Sharpener-san would be happy to do it. In fact, he does it at least twice a day."

Erasa shook her head firmly against that notion. "Sorry, but she actually _does_ hate him."

Though Gohan hardly seemed surprised by this, he asked, "She does? Why?"

"Dunno exactly," Erasa said, shrugging. "It's not, like, a huge mystery, though. It's pretty obvious that he gets on her nerves...other than that, she once told me that he was a spineless coward who would sell out his own grandmother for a jar of hair gel."

"Huh..."

"Anyway," blondie said, swinging them back to the topic at hand. "You're going to ask Videl-chan out on a date, _period_. It'll be this Saturday at eleven AM sharp, you'll wear something nice – _not_ that nasty yellow suit that Angela-chan told me about, yuck – and you'll tame your hair."

Self-consciously, Gohan tangled his fingers up in his hair as she spoke. "What's wrong with my hair?"

"Nothing. It's just that spikes are _so_ five minutes ago," Erasa informed him with a cheery smile.

Gohan looked a little doubtful. "I'm not sure about this..."

"If you want, you can come over to my house before the date and I'll fix you up. How about that?" she suggested, eagerly stepping forward to take a look at her newest project. After extricating his own fingers from the tangled nest of black spikes, she ran her own digits through them in an attempt to work it into an impromptu style. Her efforts were met with resistance, however; the second she released it from her grip, his hair sprung back to the way it always was. "Hmm...we might need some pomade. And by that, I mean a _lot_ of pomade."

Gohan stepped away from her, looking a little flustered. He began bashfully rubbing at the back of his neck as he said, "I don't think I can do this..."

Erasa wagged a stern finger in his direction and reminded him, "You don't have a choice. I know your secret and I'm commanding you to do it. Besides," she added, a sly smile spreading across her shiny, strawberry-flavored lips. "I know you've got a thing for her."

When his face lit up like the tail lights on her daddy's Porsche, she knew she had him. Stupidly, he tried to deny it anyway. "N-No I d-don't...she's a nice girl and all, but...um...she's so forward...n-not in a bad way, or anything, but..."

Sighing heavily, Erasa reached up to pat her stuttering friend on the shoulder. "Take my advice: denial is only cute for a little while. After that, it's just kinda pathetic."

"But I'm not – "

"Not what?" Erasa interrupted, a giggle slipping out from between her lips. "Not denying your denial? Please."

Gohan's blush flared back up to full power for a second, but he managed to beat it back down again quickly. "Y-You're right..."

Erasa, equal parts pleased and surprised, inclined her ear towards Gohan's mouth so that she could hear it again. "Sorry? What was that?"

"I...I mmmph...," Gohan trailed off into nonsensical muttering.

"Sorry?" Erasa pressed, leaning in a little closer so that she might catch a little more this time. She waited patiently for him to repeat his confession.

Gohan kept her waiting for the better part of a minute, face fully aflame with embarrassment, before he finally said, "I...like her. A little bit."

Erasa wanted to squeal with joy, but held it back. Barely. "You_ like_ like her?"

Her shy classmate didn't verbalize his affirmation, merely nodded.

"And you think she's pretty?"

Another nod.

"And you've secretly wanted to ask her out for months?"

"M-Maybe not for 'months,' but..."

"And you want to get married? And have babies? And – "

"Woah!" Gohan finally interrupted, waving his hands around in a flurry of panic. As opposed to being flushed with color, his face was now paler than cafeteria hot dogs. "L-Let's not get carried away here, Erasa-san. I don't even know Videl-san very well yet and I certainly haven't thought as far ahead as babies."

"Shame," Erasa conceded, rising up on her tip toes to peck him on the cheek and whisper in his ear. "Because I've already got some cute name ideas. I was thinking Bureddo for a boy and Pan for a girl. Wouldn't that be adorable?" ( 1 )

"E-Erasa-san..."

"Sorry, sorry," the blonde girl apologized, winking at her blushing friend. "We'll pick out a color scheme for the nursery on the second date. Say, how do you feel about cloud wallpaper?"

Gohan gulped as if he were choking down a mouthful of vomit.

Stepping back a little, Erasa placated, "I was just kidding, Gohan-kun! Lighten up...Anyway, here's my phone number," she whipped out a business card littered with little hearts and stars and planted it in one of his clammy palms. It had all of her pertinent info – name, phone number, e-mail address, blood type, astrological sign, etc – on it for all his future needs. "Call me tonight after you've asked her out and we'll settle all the details of your date."

Gohan glanced down at the card, still looking a little nauseated, and queried, "What if she says no?"

"Don't worry about that, handsome," Erasa replied nonchalantly. "I'll take care of everything. And make sure to call by eight; I have to start my facial regimine early if I want to be in bed by eleven-thirty."

"S-Sure..."

**000 000 000**

Erasa practically skipped to the school parking lot ten minutes later, eager to get home and get started on her plans for Videl's happy marriage. With Gohan on board with the scheme, future happiness for both of her socially awkward friends was practically a lock. She just hoped they would remember her in their wedding toasts...

Humming a chipper tune, Erasa pulled her hover craft keys out of her purse and pressed the unlock button. A few yards behind her, she heard a startled beep-beep and turned around to face her vehicle with gleeful surprise. "Oh, so that's where I parked you," she remarked to the car as she approached it.

With Gohan perpetuating her "woman troubles" excuse to the teacher, Erasa felt perfectly comfortable leaving school early. She'd just hop into her hover craft, drop by some local fast food place for a quickie salad and diet soda, and then zip on home to get started on her diabolically brilliant plans. First, she had to decide on the perfect location for the date. Then, she needed to make Videl an appointment at her beauty salon, because those pigtails just _had_ to go. (Like Erasa had been telling her since _eighth grade_.) And then, she needed to call the limo rental serv –

"EEE – _mmmph_!" was the only sound Erasa was allowed to make as a hand came out of nowhere and pressed itself to her mouth. Her keys and bag dropped uselessly to the pavement as her assailant pulled her close to him, her spine held stiffly against his hard upper body.

"Don't...make...a sound," he warned her with a low voice that sounded like tires crunching over gravel. The cheek pressed against hers was black, soft and smelled of tobacco; from her peripheral vision, it looked like a ski mask.

Erasa nodded a little in acquiescence to his demands. As if pleased by this, he loosened his grip, ever so slightly, and whispered, "Good girl. Now, hold still and this won't hurt a bit."

Before the blonde teen could even consider struggling, she felt a sharp pinch in the soft flesh of her upper arm and the numbing sting of something flowing into her blood stream. He'd injected her with something.

A few seconds later, she slumped into her assailant's arms like a rubber doll. Less than an instant after that, everything went black.

* * *

**Footnotes: **

( 1 ) Bureddo and Pan – As many of you already know, "Pan" means "bread" (cause her father is "rice." _Get it_?). In adhering to this theme, I plugged "bread" into an English to Japanese dictionary and came up with "bureddo" (which is, essentially, just a Japanese way of pronouncing the English word). So...yeah. Erasa has a thing for carbs, lolz.

**000**

**Author's Note: **ZOMG, CLIFFHANGER! Wahahahaha...You didn't think I was going to do that tired old make-Gohan-and-Videl-go-on-a-date-while-Erasa-spies-on-them thing, did you? It's been done, it's boring, and it's time to move on from that. What happens next? Well, you'll just have to wait and see, won't you?

I wrote about a quarter of this back in 2008 when I first started this story, so please be nice...I did my best to edit and promote flow with my old style (not that it's changed much), but I apologize if anything seems a little off. With any luck, you're looking at this paragraph like "Whut? She crazy?" and my ramblings are entirely pointless.

Anyway, I shall try to complete this lickety-split, but y'all know how I am. SO easily distracted...but I've gotten started and I shall do my very best! Cross your fingers and toes for me, guys.

_Next Chapter_...Pigtails

Un-beta'd. Self-edited.

_**. ( . Ms Videl Son . ) .**_

– _Who's your daddy? GohanVidel_


	3. Pigtails

**Title: **Blondemail  
**Disclaimer:** I'm not even taking credit for the stupid title pun.  
**Rating: **PG-13 ( T ) – For mildly naughty language and a hefty dose of antagonism.  
**Spoilers:** Erasa isn't a natural blonde! _Le gasp_!

**Summary:** ThreeShot. When Erasa discovers Gohan's secret identity as Saiyaman, she has a few...conditions. Pre-Blackmail, GhVi, NO GhE.

And now! The conclusion to our nail-biting mystery...(finally).

* * *

**Part Three: **Pigtails

"...llo, Son Resi..."

"...ohan...ere...?"

"...hat time it...oung lad...?"

"...orry to...all so...late...gency..."

"...et hi..."

Erasa winced as the voices in her head were overtaken by white noise. Her brain seemed to want to throb in rhythm with the grating crackle, causing her gray matter to spasm erratically against the inside of her skull. It was safe to say that she'd never had a headache this bad in her entire life.

"Hello?"

Erasa's head, heavy as it was under the cloud of drugs, perked up at the sound of a familiar voice. Gohan?

"Gohan-kun, is that you?"

Now Erasa was really excited. "V...Videl-chan...?" she muttered aloud hopefully.

"V-Videl-san? I didn't think you were speaking to me after – "

"Forget that," Videl interrupted in her impatient way. "Have you seen Erasa-chan since she left school today?"

Gohan's bashful tone changed instantly to one of a strong, serious nature. "No. Is she okay?"

"I don't know. She's been missing all afternoon and her keys and purse were found in the school parking lot."

Erasa's eyelids ripped apart so quickly that she felt a couple lashes uproot themselves. "I'm...missing?"

"HEY!" a loud, gravely voice shouted at her, drowning out the sound of her friends' conversation. "Shut up over there! Don't make me dose you again."

Erasa swiveled her blurry eyes around the room and took in her surroundings, panic rising like bile in her throat at everything she saw. She was in some kind of basement – dingy and dark with no windows to speak of – with a small crowd of men. One, two, three, four...about seven of them in all.

One of them, the one that was threatening her with hand gestures to be quiet, was dressed in all black. His sweater, his pants, his shoes...even the ski cap bunched up on his head was a deep shade of noir. Erasa had a high suspicion that he smelled like cigarettes and kept needles in his pocket.

Apparently under the impression that his hostage had gotten the gist of his message, the man in black turned around to face contraption that held his pals enraptured. They were all clustered around this thing and seemed to be listening intently to it. When Erasa leaned over to get a better view around the backside of a particularly rotund criminal, she discovered that it was some kind of two-way radio.

A voice emerged from the device now that the din between Erasa and her captor had died down. It was Gohan! "...and she hasn't been home?"

Videl's voice replied quickly, "No...that's how I realized she was missing. I called her house to yell at her for...well, you know...and they told me that they hadn't seen her all afternoon. I tried her cell next, but nothing. I even attempted contact through the communicator watch I'd gotten her for Christmas last year – which she practically never carries with her, by the way – and she wouldn't answer any of them. That's when I went to see if her car was still at the school and found her purse and keys. I was kind of hoping that she was with you..."

"No, I haven't seen her," Gohan said, pausing. After a few seconds of electronic crackling, he continued, "Have you tried that coffee shop that she likes? She said something about it earlier..."

"I've looked_ everywhere_. The school, her favorite hang out spots – "

"Did you check the school roof?"

"Knowing that she'd been hanging out with you, yeah. I was kinda hoping that you were up there showing her your underwear."

Gohan's voice sounded tight and a little higher in pitch when he replied, "I already explained about that! I never – "

Erasa's team of kidnappers guffawed stupidly at Gohan's distress, drowning out half of Videl's answer. Erasa shushed them harshly and, surprisingly, they obeyed in time to hear, "...orry, I just...I get a little sarcastic when I'm wound up. I can't help it."

There was another extended silence on the line. All the men leaned in closer to the radio, listening intently for any sounds. Erasa, too, was compelled to inch closer; the chair that her arms and torso were strapped to squealed against the concrete floor, earning her a shush of her own. When she was within three feet of the device, squeezed into a small space between two of her captors, she stopped and began straining her ears for sound.

_BZZ-KT_!

"Augh!" the men yelled, leaning away from the radio as a metallic squeal rent the silence. One of them had the presence of mind to bop the thing hard, thus restoring their regularly scheduled programming.

"...ook, don't screw with me right now. I'm asking you, as a friend, to cut the bullshit and help me here." Videl's voice commanded snippily. Erasa could tell that her frustration was mounting. "I think we both know who and what you are. You can either help me find _our_ friend, or you can keep up this pathetic lie that nobody believes anymore. Which will it be?"

The hefty whoosh of a sigh could be heard on the line; Erasa could almost picture Gohan standing there with the phone to his ear and his free hand to his neck as he replied, "You're right. There's no point in hiding it anymore..."

Suddenly, Erasa felt the thrill of panic again. He wasn't about to confess his secret, was he? In front of all these goons with an ax to grind? With the will to save her friend in mind, Erasa struggled valiantly against her bindings.

"I should have told you a long time ago...I hated lying to you."

Erasa pulled hard at the knots shackling her wrists together, wriggling so hard that warm blood began to drip down her palms. She had to keep them from hearing, she just _had_ to!

"Hey, _shut up_," one of the criminals scolded, nudging her chair roughly with his elbow. Erasa squealed and kicked her legs out to balance herself as she began to topple over. Luckily, she was able to put herself right and –

That was it!

"I...I'm Saiy – _KZZKT_!"

With a high kick that would make any cheerleading coach proud, Erasa sent the radio flying across the short room and into the opposite wall where it obediently smashed itself into itty-bitty pieces. Goal!

"What the hell?"

Uh-oh...Somehow, Erasa hadn't counted on the room full of angry kidnappers wanting revenge. She gulped and raised her eyes to look at the swarm of faces grouped around her in a ring. "S-Sorry?" she stuttered, offering them a weak apologetic smile.

They weren't buying it.

"Little Girl, you've just bitten off more than you can chew," one of them – a hefty tub of lard sporting a goatee and a bowler hat – informed her, cracking his knuckles for effect.

"Oh, yeah," one of his companions – skinny, almost anorexically so, with a huge, bird-like nose – seconded. "'Cuz now we can't listen in to see when that little crime fightin' friend 'o yers is comin'. We're gonna have tuh teach ya a lesson fer that one."

As they closed in on her, each face more menacing than the last, Erasa squeezed her eyes shut tight and waited for it to be over.

**000 000 000 **

"Erasa! Erasa-chan, wake up," someone pestered insistently. Each word was accompanied by a sharp slap to the cheek and the sting of well meaning abuse.

Unwillingly, Erasa peeled her eyes open to confront her attacker. Her blurred surroundings came slowly into focus and her best friend's face, tight and stern with worry, was revealed to her. "V-Videl-chan...?"

Videl's eyes shined with what Erasa cautiously suspected were tears at her reply. The darker-haired girl lowered her face for a moment, her tangled and knotted bangs obscuring her eyes from view, before muttering, "Thank gods..." The profession of gratitude toward the unseen deities was accompanied by a subtle sniffle.

Quickly reigning her emotions back in, Videl raised her gaze to meet Erasa's once again, her eyelashes significantly damp. It was at this point that the blonde noticed the unkempt state of her friend's appearance; the dark, purple-ish rings below her eyes seemed to suggest that Videl hadn't slept in days and the tangled, greasy state of her hair – for once unbound and flowing around her shoulders – seemed to imply that she hadn't had a shower recently, either. Her clothes – Egads! Her clothes! – were ripped, shredded and stained beyond the point of true recognition, but they rather looked like the ones she had been wearing the last time Erasa had seen her. All-in-all, it looked like she'd been wallowing around in a landfill for a week.

"Are you okay?" Erasa couldn't help asking, despite the dull throb that was rhythmically pressing against the backs of her own eyeballs.

Videl, surprisingly, laughed a little at her and more tears emerged into the chill air. "Trust me, you look worse than I do. Can you move?"

Erasa dutifully stirred her reluctant muscles into motion, strongly regretting every stretch and pull that this required. She pushed herself into a sitting position, aided dutifully by Videl, and declared herself sore, but otherwise unhurt.

"What about your leg?" Videl queried, flicking her gaze down her right side.

Erasa followed her friend's line of sight and experienced a crashing wave of nausea at what she found. Her leg was clearly broken, possibly in more than one place. Just below her knee, a protrusion of bone was visible, sharp and bloody in the dim light. With grim dread, Erasa attempted to move it and cried out in agonizing pain.

"O-Okay...," the blonde began, rubbing sweat and tears from her cheek with a shaky hand. Disturbingly, her palm came away with a dark smudge of red. "M-Maybe I'm not so fine..."

She felt her head drawn to Videl's shoulder an instant later and a soothing hand stroking the side of her face. Erasa now felt the warm flow of blood dripping down her neck and the cold shiver of shock overwhelming her system. "We'll get you to a hospital soon, Erasa-chan. Just hang in there for a little longer..."

Despite her condition, the girl couldn't help but note, "'We'?"

"Gohan's with me," Videl replied, still maintaining her soothing tone. All pretense of honorific was notably absent from her address.

"I-I heard him tell you about...you know...," Erasa held back the pertinent information, unaware of who else might be eavesdropping in the dark.

Videl seemed unconcerned, possibly because she realized just how alone they currently were. "About the Saiyaman thing? How?"

"The...the men," she still wasn't sure what to call them. Criminals? Kidnappers? Terrorists? Mobsters? They could be all of those things and more as far as she was aware. "They had a radio thing...I heard them listening to your phone call with Gohan-kun. I think they must have bugged your cell..."

Erasa could feel Videl nodding in understanding against her forehead before suddenly drawing away and saying, "Hey..."

The blonde peeked up at her friend's profile and realized that Videl hadn't been speaking to her. The raven-haired heroine was looking across the room, a light smile on her lips and a tired relief sparkling in her eyes.

"They're all unconscious upstairs," an exhausted male voice divulged, calling Erasa's attention to the same location as Videl's. It was Gohan, fully decked out in his Saiyaman gear and looking nearly as awful as the two girls. He'd lost a glove, his spandex body suit was torn at both knees and one elbow and his cape was entirely missing. Most notable, perhaps, was the red spatter that dotted his helmet and visor; it looked suspiciously like blood to Erasa. Despite the condition of his clothes, he seemed entirely unhurt, leading the blonde to deduce that the crimson liquid probably wasn't his.

"Should I call the cops?" Videl queried, attention still fixated on the battered-looking superhero. Her smile didn't waver for an instant.

Gohan reached up and pulled his helmet off, tucking it beneath his arm for safe keeping as he replied, "Nah, I called them from one of their cell phones. They should be here in a few minutes."

"If you have to take off before they get here, I understand," Videl said. Erasa could feel the brunette's grip on her tighten a little.

Gohan, whose revealed expression was easily as tired and haggard as his female counterpart's, shook his head in the negative and approached the two girls. Kneeling down, he relieved Videl of the burden of Erasa and lifted her gently off the floor. His helmet lay forgotten beside him. "I'm faster than any ambulance. I'll take you both to the hospital."

"I'm fine," Videl lied, willingly releasing her friend to the care of their mutual hero. She stood up with them, her comforting hand never straying from Erasa for an instant, and continued, "but we'd better get her to a doctor. That leg doesn't look so good."

Gohan hardly spared Erasa's injuries a glance before agreeing with Videl's assessment, further suggesting, "Climb onto my back. I can take you both."

"Not necessary," refused Videl. Erasa continued to watch this exchange with quiet curiosity, her mind whirring with possible explanations for their sudden change of attitude toward each other. Videl was being practically nice and Gohan hadn't stuttered even once in her presence. Just how long had she been unconscious? "Besides, I don't want to slow you down. I'll follow you in the jet copter."

"Are you sure?" Gohan asked, frowning a little with worry. Well, some things sure didn't change.

Videl finally removed the hand that had been continually supporting Erasa and used it to pat Gohan on the shoulder. She reassured him, "Positive. Now get going before she bleeds to death."

"Alright...," Gohan finally acquiesced, reaffirming his grip on Erasa as he turned to leave the room. A jolt of pain shot up Erasa's leg, but she restrained the hiss of discomfort so as not to break the mood her two friends had created. It would have been like a cell phone ringing right in the middle of the love confession during a romantic movie!

Gohan seemed to have heard Erasa's expression of pain, however, and dipped his eyes to look at her before mounting the staircase. He inquired after her health, lowering his voice tenderly so as not to aggravate her headache, and she stoutly refused to admit any discomfort whatsoever. "I'm fine, really...," she insisted. She didn't really feel like she was lying, either.

The unmasked superhero continued his urgent, yet careful, ascension to the upper level of what turned out to be some kind of residential dwelling. They emerged into what looked like somebody's dilapidated living room, littered with trash, broken furniture and unconscious criminals.

Erasa buried her face in Gohan's soiled tunic to avoid the glaring sunlight streaming in from the windows, the intensity of which caused her head to throb painfully. She had a quick glimpse of defeated, moaning men scattered about the floor before squeezing her eyes shut against the onslaught of light and surmised what had happened here. Very few could stand up to the violent justice that her friends were capable of.

"You might want to hold on," Gohan suggested gently. Erasa acquiesced by digging her nails into his superhero uniform and steadying herself for flight.

"Wait!" Videl's voice interrupted from behind them. Her footsteps could be heard pounding on the basement steps before she, too, burst into the living room, something orange and bloody in her possession. "You forgot this."

Approaching, Videl held out Saiyaman's helmet with a playful smile and a quirked eyebrow. "You don't want the hospital staff to know the true identity of the Great Saiyaman, do you?"

Gohan blushed bashfully and replied, "That might be bad..."

Videl chuckled at him and rose up on her tip toes to put it on for him before saying, "There. Now get going, Mr. Saiyaman."

By the time Gohan – nay, The Great Saiyaman – had taken to the air with her in his charge, Erasa was crying again. This time, she was pretty sure it was out of happy success.

**000 000 000 **

"D'you think it'll go away before I go back to school?" Erasa asked as she frowned at her own reflection in a hand held mirror. The image of her best friend – cleaned, bandaged and wearing an appropriate ensemble – shook her head with an indulgent smile.

"I think you're lucky to be alive, Erasa-chan," Videl informed her, sinking more comfortably into her chair. Her periwinkle eyes were beginning to droop again, but she was still clearly committed to staying awake. "And black eyes go away pretty quick. Take it from someone who knows."

Erasa lowered the mirror onto her blankets and turned to grin at her sleepy friend. Videl's face was less mangled than her own, sporting only a hairline cut here or there and one purple-green bruise along the left side of her jaw. The dark circles of exhaustion were still there, but likely would be gone if Videl would ever leave the hospital and go get some decent rest. "You've been here for three days straight, Videl-chan. You need to go _home_."

"I'm fine," Videl lied. She'd been saying the same thing every time she was pressed since Erasa's admittance to Orange Star General Hospital and her blonde friend hadn't believed her even once.

"Seriously," Erasa pressed, leaning toward her friend as far as the IV would allow. "_Go home_. The doctors and nurses are here and I don't need a bodyguard. The police rounded up all the terrorists and no more threats have been made against Daddy since."

Videl, whose eyes had drifted completely closed for a moment, opened them again to fix Erasa with a deadpan stare. "They still haven't found Sharpener," she reminded.

Erasa sighed with exasperation. "Oh, please. Like Sharpener-kun is brave enough to break into the hospital to attack me! Besides, he wasn't really one of the terrorists, he was just...um, greedy."

"Mercenary, you mean," Videl corrected, scoffing. Her eyes narrowed hatefully as she continued to abuse their one-time friend; "I should have dragged him into the police station the second I figured out what he'd been doing. And how can you be so forgiving, anyway? He sold you out to terrorists for money! If it were me, I'd see to it that every hair on his body was burnt off...even the ones you can't see. Maybe especially those."

"_Videl-chan_!"

"Oh, don't be like that," Videl scolded back, tucking an unruly strand of hair behind one of her ears. It had been hanging loose around her face and shoulders since the incident and Erasa could tell it was getting on her nerves. She could only assume that her raven-haired friend was putting up with it for Erasa's _other_ daily visitor. "And don't look so surprised! I would have willingly done it _before_ finding out that he'd sold you to terrorists. He's a total schmuck."

Noting in passing how rarely she got to say this to Videl, Erasa scolded, "Don't be so dramatic, girl. He didn't sell me to them, he just kept them updated on where I was. I don't think he knew what they were going to do."

Videl snorted in derision and disbelief at the notion. She closed her eyes again before saying, "Think whatever you want, Erasa-chan. If I find him, he's going to wish he'd asked for more than a couple hundred Zenni and an appointment at a hair clinic."

Erasa leaned back into her pillows and dropped the conversation. She knew better than anybody how stubborn Videl could be about stuff like this and she wasn't going to waste her remaining strength fighting a losing battle. After all, it had taken a near death experience for the both of them to convince her that Gohan was a pretty okay guy, despite being a superpowered liar.

In the ensuing lapse in conversation, the beeping and whirring of machines seemed louder than ever before. She entertained herself for a minute by watching the steady rise and fall of her heartbeat on the monitor beside her bed before lowering her eyes to what lay beneath the hospital sheets. Her broken leg was wrapped in plaster from ankle to thigh and suspended above the bed in a sling. Had her dosage of pain killers been any less, Erasa strongly suspected that this positioning would be highly uncomfortable.

The other leg – completely uninjured aside from a scraped knee and a stubbed toe – lay on the mattress in relative comfort, warmed by the blankets supplied by the hospital staff and a quilt her grandmother had brought by. The rest of her family had been to see her, of course; her mother, father and brother hardly leaving her side more often than Videl. They spent their nights at home, thankfully, and left her in the capable companionship of her oldest friend and personal heroine. Currently, they were out somewhere buying themselves lunch and probably searching for new gifts to bring her.

Smiling indulgently for the sake of her doting father – who was visibly and profoundly wracked with guilt over his indirect share in Erasa's suffering – the blonde returned to taking stock of her injuries. Skipping right over her pelvic region (and thanking any deities listening that there was no physical sign of rape), she narrowed her focus on the scar that she knew was hidden beneath her hospital gown. She'd had to endure a bit of surgery to stop some minor internal bleeding in her bowel (presumably caused by repeated abdominal kicking that her memory had blocked out for her) and she knew that she'd never be able to wear a bikini again. Though she didn't want to be so superficial, it grieved her to think that her fashion choices would be forever impacted by this ordeal; no more tube tops for her.

Everything above that was a cluster of cuts, bruises and scrapes of unknown origin. All around, the doctors informed her that she'd endured a brutal beating after her daring radio punt. It made sense to her; the broken leg was the one she'd used to send it flying into the wall.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Hey." Erasa raised her eyes to the open doorway and a smile bloomed across her battered cheeks. There was Gohan, a teensy bit late for his "shift" (as usual), with his relaxed knuckles resting against the door. He was holding a pot of something Erasa assumed must be edible and grinning in that endearing way Erasa found so charming. "Can I come in?"

Always so polite. "Sure," blondie replied, squirming a little on the mattress to position herself more firmly upright against her pillows. Gohan set down the dish – which smelled really good, by the way – and lurched forward to help her. With one hand on her upper arm and the other against the bed, he helped her shift until she was more comfortable. "Thanks."

"No problem," he said, removing his hands and standing fully upright again. Woah, she sometimes forgot how_ tall _he was. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better," she replied honestly. The drugs were working, some of the more unattractive wounds were abating and her family had filled the room with flowers and personal touches from her room. Other than the food, Erasa was perfectly comfortable and happy with her situation and the covered dish that Gohan had brought in with him seemed like it might just solve her last little problem. "What's that?"

Gohan flicked his eyes to the gift he'd brought her and replied, "My mother made you some kind of casserole thing. I don't really know what's in it, but it's really good. And she made enough for Videl-san, too. Has she gone home yet?"

"No, and I keep telling her that she's going to collapse if she doesn't – " Erasa stopped talking when her gaze fell upon her friend. She was curled up in her chair, knees bent and nestled into her chest, and her face resting against her folded arms. Her eyelashes fluttered against her cheek as she dreamed.

"You know, just like_ that_," blondie finished, her voice lowering to a softer register and a smirk twitching at one corner of her lips. Videl's breathing maintained its deep, slow rhythm without pause; she was still deep in the loving embrace of Morpheus.

Gohan, showing an enormous amount of restraint, choked back a laugh at Videl's expense as he knelt down to observe her more closely. As if sensing his presence, the teenaged dreamer murmured something nonsensical – it could have been "I'm not sleeping" – and nuzzled deeper into her own arms. Her long, dark hair spilled over her shoulders and down her arms like an overflowing inkwell, draping across her eyes like a painted privacy curtain.

Erasa, showing even more restraint than she gave herself credit for, held in her gasp when Gohan reached up with two tentative fingers and brushed one of Videl's tangled tresses back behind her ear where it belonged. Blondie's excitement threatened to burst forth again when the slumbering Videl sighed gratefully, forcing her to hold it back with both hands slapped across her gaping mouth.

Well, her work here was done.

Gohan clearly didn't suspect Erasa's fangirling as he continued to watch his new lady-love sleep with a fond smile spread across his lips. If he had, he surely would have devolved into a bumbling pile of mush and denial again and completely ruined the endearing situation. Erasa was determined to wait until he left to squeal.

"I'm going to see if the doctors have a bed for her, or something," Gohan announced, very softly, to Erasa. His eyes remained riveted to Videl as he rose back onto his feet. Videl remained undisturbed. "Help yourself to the casserole."

Erasa waved at him with one hand as he disappeared through the doorway, the other still clamped firmly over her mouth to hold in the giggles. As soon as he was gone, she let one slip; her chest heaved in relief.

She turned to look at her friend again and turned her thoughts to one of her new favorite subjects. She wasn't convinced of Bureddo anymore, – it sounded too much like "burrito" to her and who wanted to be named after something full of beans and mystery meat – but Pan still had a nice ring to it. Yeah, Son Pan sounded good.

_FIN_

**000 000 000 **

**Author's Notes:** Dude...I took _forever_ to finish this thing! I'm ashamed. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and are now satisfied. If not...well, I'm sorry (I guess). Lolz.

Still dedicated to my dearest RyRy. Merry Christmas!

Un-beta'd. Self-edited.

_**. ( . Ms Videl Son . ) .**_

– _Who's your daddy? GohanVidel_


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